Alessia Cara Defends Her Best New Artist Grammy In Emphatic Instagram Post

One of the bigger snubs at the Grammys in the eyes of music fans was Alessia Cara taking home the award for Best New Artist in place of SZA, who had herself one of the most acclaimed albums of the year in CTRL. SZA was the most nominated female artist this year, but she went home with no awards to show for it.

Backlash against Cara came hot and fast on social media, with a surge of SZA fans rushing to defend their rejected favorite.

Cara, for her part, came back on Instagram with an impassioned self-defense speech, advocating for her own hard work and success to be acknowledged in music. “I was nominated and won and I am not going to be upset about something I’ve wanted since I was a kid, not to mention have worked really hard for.”

The 21-year-old singer pointed out that she tries to use her platform to shine light on issues “that aren’t fair,” and make the most of the “weird, amazing success I’ve been lucky enough to have. I will not let everything I’ve worked for be diminished by people feeling the need to tell me I suck. I’ve been thinking I suck since I was old enough to know what sucking meant. I’ve beat [you] to it. That’s why this means a lot to me.”